Some firms didn’t want or need to give the bonuses so they didn’t. And then, once firms like those three did not give them, it was cover for most firms not to give them if they didn’t want to give them, and most didn’t want to give them.
— Kent Zimmermann, a legal consultant wth the Zeughauser Group, commenting on the recent dearth of special fall bonuses for associates after Kirkland & Ellis, Cravath, and O’Melveny declined to match the Davis Polk scale. This week, both Paul Weiss and Fried Frank declined to match as well, with Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp noting that “[p]roviding a special cash reward in direct response to the pandemic does not feel right at this time.”
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.